Timeline - Michael Crichton [106]
“Except for tournaments,” Chris said sourly.
“Pretty much. And even there—all that plate armor, over the chain mail—that’s all because of arrows. Arrows will go clean through an unprotected man, and they’ll penetrate chain mail. So knights need plate armor. Horses need armor. But with a volley like that . . .” Marek pointed to the whistling rainfall of arrows and shrugged. “It’s over.”
Chris looked back at the tournament grounds. And then he said, “Well, it’s about time!”
Marek turned and saw five liveried pages walking toward them, along with two guards in red-and-black surcoats. “Finally I’m going to get out of this damned metal.”
Chris and Marek stood as the men came up. One of the guards said, “You have broken the rules of tourney, disgraced the chivalrous knight Guy Malegant, and the good offices of Lord Oliver. You are made arrest, and will come with us.”
“Wait a minute,” Chris said. “We disgraced him?”
“You will come with us.”
“Wait a minute,” Chris said.
The soldier cuffed him hard on the side of the head, and pushed him forward. Marek fell into step beside him. Surrounded by guards, they headed toward the castle.
:
Kate was still at the tournament, looking for Chris and André. At first, she thought to look in the tents ranged beyond the field, but there were only men—knights and squires and pages—in that area, and she decided against it. This was a different world, violence was in the air, and she felt a constant sense of risk. Nearly everyone in this world was young; the knights who swaggered about the field were in their twenties or early thirties, and the squires mere teenagers. She was dressed in ordinary fashion, and clearly not a member of the nobility. She had the feeling that if she were dragged off and raped, no one would take much notice.
Even though it was midday, she found herself behaving the way she did in New Haven at night. She tried never to be alone, but to move with a group; she skirted around the clusters of males, giving them wide berth.
She made her way behind the bleachers, hearing the cheers of the crowd as the next pair of knights began to fight. She looked into the area of tents to her left. She did not see Marek or Chris anywhere. Yet they had left the field only minutes before. Were they inside one of the tents? She had heard nothing in her earpiece for the last hour; she assumed it was because Marek and Chris had worn helmets, which blocked transmission. But surely their helmets were off now.
Then she saw them, a short distance down the hill, sitting by a meandering stream.
She headed down the hill. Her wig was hot and itchy in the sun. Perhaps she could get rid of the wig and just put her hair up under a cap. Or if she cut her hair a little shorter, she could pass for a young man, even without a cap.
It might be interesting, she thought, to be a man for a while.
She was thinking about where to get scissors when she saw the soldiers approaching Marek. She slowed her pace. She still heard nothing in her earpiece, but she was so close, she knew she should.
Was it turned off? She tapped her ear.
Immediately, she heard Chris say, “We disgraced him?” and then something garbled. She saw the soldiers push Chris toward the castle. Marek walked alongside him.
Kate waited a moment, then followed.
:
Castelgard was deserted, shops and storefronts locked, its streets echoing and empty. Everyone had gone to the tournament, which made it more difficult for her to follow Marek and Chris and the soldiers. She had to drop farther back, waiting until they had gone out of a street before she could follow them, hurrying ahead at a near run until she caught sight of them again, then duck back around a corner.
She knew her behavior looked suspicious.